A bill passed by the Iowa House this past week would require all schools to adopt a policy declaring harassment and bullying in schools as against school policy. It is a reasonable assumption no one condones the practice of harassment or bullying of any student for any reason at any time, and it seems most would favor its passage.
However, it is also my guess most people would assume schools already have harassment policies in place and it would be unnecessary for the state legislature to pass redundant legislation.
I assumed the same. Upon researching the question, I found that in order to be accredited by the State of Iowa, all public and non-public schools must have a student discipline policy addressing harassment per Iowa Administrative Code 281-12. Almost all school districts have adopted the model policy of the Iowa Association of School Boards which closely mirrored the rule language.
So why should the legislature pass another law to mandate schools to do something they have already done? The key is in how the bill defines harassment and bullying and the true intent of the passage of this legislation.
The bill defines harassment and bullying as “any conduct toward a student which is based on any actual or perceived trait or characteristic of the student and which creates an objectively hostile school environment.” The bill then lists the traits or characteristics upon which harassment or bullying can be based. The list includes age, color, creed, national origin, race, religion, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical attributes, physical or mental ability or disability, ancestry, political party preference, political belief, socioeconomic status, or familial status.
Currently only three other states—California, New Jersey and Vermont—have a similar harassment and bullying law which lists specific characteristics on which harassment or bullying can be based.
A key amendment offered would have eliminated the list of traits or characteristics and instead included the word “all” to ensure the protection of all students from harassment and bullying. This amendment was not acceptable to the majority party and was defeated.
One must ask why language that would protect all students from harassment and bullying would be less preferable to language that provides a list that may not include certain students. It seems to me that such a specific list could provide more headaches for schools to administer. Because taking the list out of the legislation was not negotiable, it became apparent there was an additional agenda for those who supported the bill other than protecting all students from bullying.
To their credit, the majority party did allow an amendment that would remove non-public schools from this requirement recognizing that the inclusion of some of the traits might be in opposition to their religious tenants. They also agreed to include cyber bullying in the bill. While I am grateful for those concessions, I was still unable to vote for final passage of the bill.
The bottom line is no amount of words added to the Iowa Code will stop the age-old practice of bullying. Effectiveness is achieved when students, parents, teachers and administrators join together to confront bullying and harassment. We must all take responsibility to do our part to change hearts and minds to make Ankeny a place where all students and all people are respected.
Right to Work Bill Introduced in House
Two weeks ago my article in this paper discussed legislation that would require all employees to pay a fee to unions, the passage of which would remove Iowa’s Right to Work status. Because many of you have written or talked to me about the legislation, I wanted to note it was introduced into the Iowa House last Friday, February 9th, as HF 324.
As always you can contact me at:
E-mail: carmine.boal@legis.state.ia.us
Home Address: 3301 SW Timber Green Road, Ankeny
Home Phone: 964-3335